Teaching Historical Thinking in a High-Pressure Accountability Context to Receive NCSS 2017 Exemplary Research Award The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) selected “‘Happy professional development at an unhappy time’: Learning to teach for historical thinking in a high-pressure accountability context,” by Kevin W. Meuwissen (Theory & Research in Social Education, 45 (2), 2016),  as the 2017 Exemplary Research in Social Studies Award winner. The award will be presented at the NCSS 97th Annual Conference during the College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA) Business…

Current Events Response April 19, 2023 As we prepare for the 103rd NCSS Annual Conference, some are asking, Why Nashville? Nashville is the capital of Tennessee and is a vibrant and culturally diverse city. In addition to the world-renowned music scene, Nashville is home to key moments and movements in our nation’s history; for example, the demand for women's suffrage and the fight for civil rights. In 1960, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed in Nashville by college students, including Diane Nash. As chairman of SNCC, John Lewis, civil rights icon, former member…

Discerning the intent of the author of a historical document is critical as we seek to interpret it. Disciplinary literacy uses specialized skills that seek to maximize student engagement and achievement within specified subject areas.1 In social stud- ies, one of these critical skills is “sourcing.” Sourcing involves exploring who produced a document to better understand that person’s motivations for choosing an event to focus on and how to represent it. This article explores a free set of digital inter-actives that introduces a unique and exciting way for elementary age students to engage…

A troubling observation is that—outside of Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March, during which students are acquiring some knowledge about noteworthy women and minorities—teachers in every grade level often teach about the same figures rather than expanding their lessons to include less-conventional or less-well-known individuals. To address these gender equity gaps related to social studies instruction, the authors established “Little Leaders,” a group consisting of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten girls.